There's a problem with your browser or settings.

Your browser or your browser's settings are not supported. To get the best experience possible, please download a compatible browser. If you know your browser is up to date, you should check to ensure that
javascript is enabled.

The next three crewmembers scheduled to launch to the International Space Station will talk with reporters during a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 14 at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television with question-and-answer capability for reporters at participating NASA centers.

The crew includes the NASA astronaut and the Russian cosmonaut who will stay aboard the Station as members of Expedition 8: Expedition Commander and NASA/Station Science Officer Michael Foale and Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri. European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain is also traveling to the Space Station.

Right: Expedition 8 Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri was the flight engineer of the Mir-22 mission, which lasted from August 18, 1996, until March 2, 1997. He served with American astronauts Shannon Lucid and John Blaha aboard the Mir space station.

The crew begins training soon at JSC in preparation for their October 18 launch aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Foale and Kaleri plan to spend about 200 days aboard the Space Station. Duque will spend eight days on the complex conducting a series of independent science investigations, through a contract between ESA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviakosmos. Duque will return to Earth Oct. 28 with Expedition 7 crewmembers Yuri Malenchenko and Ed Lu, who have been aboard the Station since late April.

Reporters interested in conducting one-on-one round-robin interviews with the crewmembers should contact the JSC newsroom (281/483-5111) by 5 p.m. EDT Aug. 12. Interviews may be conducted in person or by phone, and will not be broadcast on NASA TV.

NASA Television is broadcast on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.